TThe disapproval statement came straight from the Vatican. Earlier this week, we learned that the Catholic Church would not bless same-sex unions, since God “cannot bless sin.”
The formal response, issued on Monday by the Vatican’s orthodox office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, made the official statement after being asked whether or not the Catholic clergy can bless gay unions.
The Vatican’s “negative” response explained that the Church will continue to welcome and bless gay Catholics, but it could not do the same for same-sex unions because they do not believe they are part of “God’s plan”. The answer was approved by Pope Francis, a surprise to many within the Catholic Church who considered him more progressive on the issue in previous instances.
“They are children of God and have a right to a family,” Pope Francis said earlier about same-sex civil unions in the 2020 documentary. Francesco. “Nobody should be expelled or miserable because of that.”
These progressive sentiments echo most Catholics. According to the Pew Research Center, 57% of Catholics are in favor of same-sex marriage. A study published by the Williams Institute in December 2020, estimated that there are 1.3 million LGBTQ Roman Catholics – 24.8% of all religious LGBTQ adults (5.3 million).
“I have seen a huge number of LGBTQ people whose faith and religious identity are so strong that they continue to struggle for acceptance, even against gigantic walls of opposition,” Francis DeBernardo, Executive Director of New Ways Ministry, told NBC News about the report’s findings. on the inclusion of LGBT in the Roman Catholic Church. “LGBTQ people have many spiritual gifts that can renew religious institutions, if these groups just performed the simple and sacred acts of welcoming and listening.”
“I was angry, frustrated, irritated, but not surprised by the regurgitation of discussion points that the church has used to denigrate LGBTQ existence over the years.“
– Xorje Olivares
But now some LGBTQ Catholics are in conflict over their place within the Church after the Vatican’s discriminatory response and Pope Francis’ “disappointing” approval.
“It’s an absolute disappointment every time, and this week was no different,” says Xorje Olivares, a Bostonian queer and host of the new podcast “Queer I Am Lord” for his digital brand Hey Xorje. “I was angry, frustrated, aggravated and still not surprised by the regurgitation of discussion points that the church has used to denigrate the LGBTQ existence over the years, again using the“ sinful ”rhetoric that it attributes to countless traumas suffered among queer people simply seeking recognition. “
“It is a tragedy to alienate Catholics based on this single aspect of our being,” said Jobert Abueva, a gay writer from New Hope, PA, who is also a global marketer for a nonprofit organization. “We are feeling frustrated and even abandoned. It is based on anachronistic attitudes and is inconsistent with the teachings of Jesus Christ. “
Abueva, who recently wrote an article in The Philadelphia Inquirer entitled “Why I finally broke up with the Catholic Church”, argues that the Church’s recent anti-LGBTQ stance has influenced its decision to leave.
“The harsh, if not hostile, message to the LGBTQ community is a hard pill to swallow for gay Catholics in America and around the world, who have long had to walk the tightrope of our beliefs against a doctrine that continually ignores it one aspect of who we are as holistic beings, ”wrote Abueva in the article.
But despite long-standing concerns, LGBTQ Catholics have found that the Church’s recent talk about excluding same-sex unions is sending mixed messages – especially from Pope Francis, who has disappointed some in the community.
“I lost all hope. It is as if his progressive thinking has been crushed by more powerful forces with the Church and he has since had to retreat.“
– Jobert Abueva
“I have lost all hope,” said Abueva of the evolution of same-sex marriage in the future. “It’s as if his progressive thinking has been crushed by more powerful forces with the church and he has since had to back down.”
“As Pope Francis’ health deteriorates and he is under greater control by conservative forces within the Vatican, I have zero hope and so much interest,” said Dawn Ennis, a transgender journalist, contributor to The Daily Beast and editor-in-chief of outsports.com. “People who once believed it would bring change need to say goodbye and leave.”
“I believe in him, as a man, as a human being,” says Michelle Fitzhugh-Craig, a black lesbian journalist and owner of MFC3 Media, of still having faith in the Pope’s ability to become more progressive “although I still question a lot of the leadership of the papacy. “
Some of these issues stem from how the Vatican appears to take a more aggressive stance externally against the LGBTQ community, although it does not have as much public condemnation for other controversial issues within the church (such as child sexual abuse of priests, sexism and racism).
“As someone raised in the church, I experienced crises involving people with artificial means of survival, artificial insemination, sex scandals of priests and women demanding a greater role in church affairs,” said Ennis, who is no longer Catholic. “My father told me stories of boys being molested in his Catholic school by priests so bold that they didn’t care that they were witnessed by their victims’ roommates. So I am someone who expected the church to do the same to the LGBTQ community as it did in all other controversies – ignore it, keep doing what you want and move on without apology or afterthought. Like the boys that the priests harassed while my father watched, I knew that the church would not care what we thought and would do whatever it wanted with holy impunity ”.
“The church is strangely fixated on this issue more than others, and I can’t understand why,” said Olivares of what he describes as an “underlying problem” of the Vatican’s focus on its LGBTQ members. “There are few attempts to address your patriarchal tendencies, your blatant misogyny or your repressive history, but by God, you will definitely hear a bishop or five say a few impolite words about homosexual believers from time to time.”
“But an underlying problem that continues to happen because of this queer fixation is a fusion of unrelated issues by hardline religious people or church critics, especially when it comes to abuse scandal or accusations of pedophilia,” adds Olivares. “Incidentally, it propagates the old tribe that queer people, gays in particular, are predatory individuals – which is how some in the priesthood are seen after revelations of abuse. The church’s attempt to control damage on this front is always at the expense of our community. ”
“I will be one of the first to admit that it has been tiring to continue to know how spiritually violent it has been for other LGBTQ people.“
– Xorje Olivares
And while other LGBTQ Catholics have expressed similar concerns, the decision to abandon the church altogether is not so black and white.
“I am a born and raised Catholic and still attend mass when I am at home in Arizona,” said Fitzhugh-Craig. “Having attended parochial schools for 12 years, there are some traditions and observations that I continue to appreciate. However, in recent years, the church as a whole has not aligned with my personal beliefs. “
“Over the years, I understood that the church with a capital C is not the institution, but its members,” says Olivares. “Furthermore, it is incredibly difficult to withdraw from Catholicism, considering how deeply ingrained in my Mexican-American culture they are almost synonymous. But I will be one of the first to admit that it has been difficult to stay, knowing how spiritually violent it has been for other LGBTQ people, with no signs of improvement. “